Chapter VIII.

That he is sure to be restless who will not be content
with the work of his own hands.

“Because we were
not restless among you.” When he wants to prove by the practice
of work that he was not restless among them, he fully shows that those
who will not work are always restless, owing to the fault of idleness.
“Nor did we eat any man’s bread for nought.” By each
expression the teacher of the Gentiles
270advances a step in the rebuke.971971Increpationis
(Petschenig). Interpretationis (Gazæus). The preacher of the gospel says that he
has not eaten any man’s bread for nought, as he knows that the
Lord commanded that “they who preach the gospel should live of
the gospel:”9729721 Cor. ix. 14. again, “The
labourer is worthy of his meat.”973973 S. Matt. x. 10.
And so if he who preached the gospel, performing a work so lofty and
spiritual, did not venture in reliance on the Lord’s command to
eat his bread for nought, what shall we do to whom not merely is there
no preaching of the word intrusted, but no cure of souls except our own
committed? with what confidence shall we dare with idle hands to eat
our bread for nought, when the “chosen vessel,” constrained
by his anxiety for the gospel and his work of preaching, did not
venture to eat without labouring with his own hands? “But in
labour,” he says “and weariness, working night and day lest
we should be burdensome to any of you.”9749742 Thess. iii. 8.
Up to this point he amplifies and adds to his rebuke. For he did not
simply say, “We did not eat bread for nought from any of
you,” and then stop short. For it might have been thought that he
was supported by his own private means, and by money which he had
saved, or by other people’s, though not by their collections and
gifts. “But in labour,” he says, “and weariness,
working night and day;” that is, being specially supported by our
own labour. And this, he says, we did not of our own wish, and for our
own pleasure, as rest and bodily exercise suggested, but as our
necessities and the want of food compelled us to do, and that not
without great bodily weariness. For not only throughout the whole day,
but also by night, which seems to be granted for bodily rest, I was
continually plying the work of my hands, through anxiety for
food.